Thermoelectric couples are cool, (pun intended) but unless you are looking for a low noise solution (which you will pay for, as your WC loop to cool the TECs will have to be quiet as well), a vapor phase chiller is the best way to go, more efficient, more cooling power, lower temperature, and...
Any free linux distro will have one built in. Just run the live edition off of a usb drive and you will have full control :)
Also, partition magic is okay. Still gparted is the best, in my opinion.
I have had bad experiences with Asus, just a heads up, their RMA can be funky...
I was sent back the same broken board three times, it had a retention mechanism glued to the back of the socket....and it was not my original board...Go figure.
Definitely one of the funniest supposedly accurate and or substantiated online reports I have ever seen. Using the same browser? Of course it would pay off to use browser history in your search results, you would be silly not to.
/thread
Decent deal, the Gskill eco's are nicer sticks, and for $20 more, they are what I got. Unless you wish to get 16 GB of RAM, two sets of 2 x2GB Gskill Eco 1.35V 1600 6 7 6 6 21 for $60 a piece are the way to go, in my opinion
Almost any laptop you can imagine has compatible drivers, you will just need to look around a little bit.
What are the other specificaitons of what you would like?
Gaming and Linux tend not to mix too well, so beware.